Marking 20 years since the legendary game debuted in North America, offering everyday gamers the opportunity to become a rock star. Not literally, but try convincing anyone who has nailed the epic lengthy instrumental break in front of an enthusiastic living-room audience.
Developed by Harmonix, the game gave players a guitar-shaped controller to match on-screen cues moving along the screen in time with the music. Each riff mimicked particular chords, creating the sensation of an authentic performance.
Harmonix previously experimented in the music genre before partnering with the publisher, which was purchased by Activision during the mid-2000s. Collaboratively, they laid the foundations for an unlikely massively profitable franchise which made a remarkable impact for many musicians featured, showcasing classic groups to a new generation of younger players.
Michael Dornbrook, former COO of Harmonix, recalls the early financial challenges of licensing the recordings – despite the fact the first two games primarily featured rerecorded tracks.
“We rerecorded every song since the dollar figure was so high,” he explains. “Despite having the necessary permissions by themselves, it proved extremely difficult. We couldn’t get acts such as legendary groups – RedOctane had virtually no money, and our team was fairly certain the project would flop. However, when the game took off, and record sales and radio play were going up, all artists desired to participate.”
He continues: “Among the remarkable aspects was how many mothers and fathers got in touch expressing gratitude for exposing their children to the music they loved. It became a multigenerational phenomenon.”
Timeless Music Finds a New Audience
Irish group one featured act had their track in the 2008 release Guitar Hero World Tour. Guitarist Paul Mahon remembers the way the game revived classic rock to the forefront: “The game offered a bigger, younger audience. Generally such music was seen as outdated material, but then when it was included in the title young people were finding it, suddenly it was cool. This validated it, eliminating the outdated label. It provided our catalog a new life.”
At that time, the band's debut album remained unreleased stateside, so the game was a key medium of discovery for the group during their US tour opening for the rock giants. “Their crew were playing Never Too Late during travel, and several recognized us thanks to the game,” he notes.
Major Band Titles Enduring Impact
Music's heavyweight names quickly took advantage of the game's success, with Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen starring in specialized game editions centered around each band’s catalogue and associated stories, visuals and legendary status. For example, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, it was said earned the group greater revenue than any of their records. It sold well over 500,000 copies in its first week, and demand for their songs rose of up to 40% at a time as the industry was already collapsing.
Guitar Hero still motivates quick-handed fanaticism within the community. Earlier this year, a streamer achieved a remarkable feat featuring Through the Fire and Flames – an infamously tough power-metal song popularized through Guitar Hero – on Clone Hero, a no-cost alternative with similar gameplay but an array of customisation options. This track is challenging enough on the hardest setting, let alone performed at increased tempo and without missing every one of the thousands of cues. They claimed it took nine months of practice.
“The game is a fun, fantasy thing. Just as with Call of Duty, that doesn’t mean you ought to pick up a real gun and enlist,” notes DragonForce guitarist Herman Li.
The band previously wrapped up a profitable run before Through the Fire and Flames was featured in the third game, but Li says it turned them into widely recognized. “I remember our distributors informing us that our selling albums like crazy,” he shares. “It exploded when we next toured, and we were playing right ahead of the headliners on the Mayhem festival.”
In fact, DragonForce’s exposure from Guitar Hero proved so vast that it threatened to overshadow everything else the band has done. Recently, the track was used in promotional material for a major film. “In the past I thought differently, but I’ve made peace with it,” he admits. “If you only listen to a single track, it’s totally cool – everyone’s got their own path in music and I'm pleased we played a role of people’s lives”.
Enduring Legacy of a Plastic Guitar
The best marketing, whether it’s for automobiles, clothes or video games, goes further mere transactions – it evokes a desire. Was the game able to tap into that? “Precisely what we were aiming to achieve,” Dornbrook says. “That thrill of being a music icon in the spotlight. Since the beginning, the creators believed there’s an instinctive human desire to create songs, and their goal was to leverage innovation to allow people to do it”.
The majority of Guitar Hero games were released in just a half-decade from 2005 to 2010, including derivative titles like DJ Hero, including a spinning deck, and Band Hero. After that, the publisher’s interest in plastic instruments waned, except for a brief comeback several years later.
Titles such as Clone Hero and newer releases have maintained the community alive, with expectations of a new product from the original publisher in development. A new studio has entered production on their first rhythm-based title. Original co-founders are both involved as special advisers. Are gamers ready to embrace another game following the classic?
“We thought those games might become like Madden where you can releases,” Dornbrook says. “With abundant new music it could remain perennially popular, thus I remain hopeful. It's entirely possible why it can’t continue for future fans.”
